Tag: Charlie Day

Fist Fight Box Office Prediction

Ice Cube and Charlie Day headline the comedy Fist Fight, which hits theaters over Presidents Day weekend. A loose remake of the 1987 cult pic Three O’Clock High, costars include Tracy Morgan (in his first film after his auto accident), Jillian Bell, Christina Hendricks, Dennis Haysbert, and Kumail Nanjiani.

Mr. Cube has had his share of laugh inducing hits and franchises over the years with Barbershop, 21/22 Jump Street, and Ride Along. Day is best known for TV’s “It Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and the Horrible Bosses flicks.

Fight pits Cube as a teacher challenging his fellow educator to a schoolyard brawl. With its simple concept, known stars in the genre, and really zero competition when it comes to comedies (save for Lego Batman I suppose), I’ll predict this manages a mid 20s four day debut. It could even fight for the highest opening among the two others newbies (The Great Wall, A Cure for Wellness) over the holiday weekend.

Fist Fight opening weekend prediction: $25.1 million

For my The Great Wall prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2017/02/09/the-great-wall-box-office-prediction/

For my A Cure for Wellness prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2017/02/09/a-cure-for-wellness-box-office-prediction/

Vacation Movie Review

The reboot of Vacation may make you long for the days of European Vacation, which came 30 years before it. Not the original Vacation from 1983, which this pic is most inspired by. Not Christmas Vacation from 1989. This new entry doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as those two franchise highlights. I’m saying this is substandard to the Griswolds overseas adventure, which was certainly nothing special and this is more on the level of 1997’s unfortunate Vegas Vacation when the series ran out of steam.

Our fifth flick concentrates on grown up Rusty (Ed Helms) and his bored wife (Christina Applegate) taking their two boys to Walley World, the famed amusement park from the original. What follows is an R rated celebration of sex jokes, poop jokes, and pedophilia jokes (yep) that does little to capture the spirit of when Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo took their brood from Chicago to California the first time around. There’s plentiful nods to the ’83 pic and even Clark and Ellen show up for a surprisingly unfunny cameo where Chevy essentially bumbles around for five minutes. Sister Audrey appears in the form of Leslie Mann, now married to weatherman hunk Chris Hemsworth (who does manage to provide a few weak laughs). Cousin Eddie is nowhere to be found (let’s assume he went to Canada).

Vacation isn’t terrible but the majority of its jokes are obvious lowbrow and tired ones mixed in with intermittent genuine laughs. The new Griswolds incarnation is uninspired and this is not a Vacation we need.

** (out of four)

Vacation Box Office Prediction

A new generation of Griswolds comes to the big screen as Vacation hits theaters this Wednesday. It’s been 32 years since Clark, Ellen, and the kids starred in the now classic original and 18 years since the last installment, the poorly received Vegas Vacation.

Our reboot finds Ed Helms as the grown up Rusty Griswold with Christina Applegate as his wife. Leslie Mann costars as sister Audrey with Chris Hemsworth and Charlie Day among the supporting cast. And as you’ve likely seen from the trailers and TV spots, Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo do return once again.

The name brand and nostalgia factor alone should be enough to get this Vacation off to a pretty healthy start. There is some comedy competition in the form of Trainwreck‘s third weekend, but that shouldn’t be a huge factor. With its five-day roll out, the pic looks poised for a likely second place showing behind the weekend’s other newcomer, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. I’ll say it manages to reach mid 20s over the five day frame.

Vacation opening weekend prediction: $17.1 million (Friday to Sunday), $24.7 million (Wednesday to Sunday)

For my Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/07/23/mission-impossible-rogue-nation-box-office-prediction/

Horrible Bosses 2 Movie Review

2011’s Horrible Bosses was a better than average raunchy comedy that will most be remembered for showing a whole new side to Jennifer Aniston, which assisted in achieving some shock value. It helped that it was headlined by three highly talented comedic leads – Jason’s Bateman and Sudeikis and Charlie Day. When it turned into a surprise blockbuster with a $117 million domestic gross, the bosses at Warner Bros decided we needed a sequel.

We didn’t.

Horrible Bosses 2 contains only hints of what the original a reasonable success. The sequel pines to remind us of what we dug about its predecessor. Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx reprise their roles but their parts aren’t as humorous as the first go round. Aniston is back, but that aforementioned shock value is long gone. The three leads have an undeniable chemistry which again isn’t as strong as when they were dealing with their original nefarious employers.

It’s actually Chris Pine who turns in the most unexpectedly winning performance. Captain Kirk hasn’t had much opportunity to show his comedy skills and he has them. He plays the spoiled son of a rich investor (a totally wasted Christoph Waltz) who bilks our trio out of their new business venture called The Shower Buddy (not really worth explaining). He is really the only new and worthy addition to the proceedings. The rest is primarily stale sex jokes. Lots of them.

The contrived plot (you can bet a sequel for this was never planned) involves the leads setting up a scheme to kidnap Pine. Their plans necessitate conspiring with their old foes Spacey and Foxx and Aniston because star power is key. Yet those three contributed a lot to the 2011 pic and the same cannot be said now.

Even a less than desirable follow up is bound to have laugh inducing moments with this cast. The ratio isn’t horrible, but it’s not impressive either.

** (out of four)

The LEGO Movie Review

The central theme of The LEGO Movie is ultimately about allowing one’s creative impulses to be set free and not conforming to the set ways of the world. That statement could apply to the directors and writers of this picture, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. A movie based on the timeless LEGO toys might have made its studio a lot of money regardless of its quality. Yet Lord and Miller allow their creativity to run wild and what results is a highly entertaining experience that no doubt will serve as the building block (so to speak) of a new franchise.

We begin in the community of Bricksburg, where regular old construction worker Emmet (Chris Pratt) is perfectly happy with the micro-managed society that’s run with an iron fist (or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene fist, to be technically accurate) by President Business (Will Ferrell). The truth is that the dastardly President has plans to end the LEGO Universe and that Emmet may or may not be The Special or Master Builder (think Chosen One) who must save the world. Emmet’s journey partners him with Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), a hipster who would be the traditional love interest if she weren’t dating Batman… yes, Batman (voiced marvelously by Will Arnett). There’s also a wise old wizard who is naturally voiced by Morgan Freeman and a humorous “good cop/bad cop” character figure voiced by Liam Neeson. The team of resistors to President Business’s schemes journey through visually splendid other worlds such as The Old West and Middle Zealand and even come across friends from a galaxy far far away. This is in addition to a little help from the 2002 NBA All Stars, which includes Shaquille O’Neal.

In case you’re already picking it up, The LEGO Movie is jam packed with pop culture references. There’s a lot here to keep adults smiling as much as the kids. Miller and Lord also get in their digs at corporate culture – many are quite clever, some are a bit well-worn. The voice over work is filled with smart choices and Chris Pratt now has two 2014 film heroes that youngsters will idolize.

There’s a “twist” later in the proceedings that truly did surprise me and it creates a level of emotion that I didn’t expect. It isn’t quite Pixar when it reaches its heart tugging heights (think another animated franchise about toys or Up), but it works very well. Emmet’s main problem for awhile is not believing he has the capability to be exceptional in a world that prides itself in conformity. President Business and others don’t want to allow for the innovations of others. The LEGO Movie shows its audience how important it is to strive to be unique and also be part of a team and that’s a good message for all of us. And kudos to Warner Bros. for allowing its filmmakers the chance to take what could have been an assembly line cash cow and make it something… well, pretty special.

***1/2 (out of four)

Horrible Bosses 2 Box Office Prediction

The Turkey Day box office frame showcases a sequel to a well regarded comedy that came out three and a half years ago as Horrible Bosses 2 opens Wednesday. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day are back along with returnees Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, and Kevin Spacey. Newbies Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine join the fray as well.

In the summer of 2011, the original Bosses debuted to a robust $28 million on its way to a $117M domestic take. Those grosses were strong enough to warrant this sequel. Reviews have not been on its side as it currently holds a tepid 11% on Rotten Tomatoes (compared to its predecessor’s 69% rating). However, its opening weekend should be somewhat critic proof before lackluster word of mouth could cause large drop-offs in future weekends. After all, bad reviews didn’t hurt Dumb and Dumber To one bit.

I’ll predict Horrible Bosses 2 opens with just about what the first did for its Friday to Sunday frame while inching close to $40M for the five-day frame.

Horrible Bosses 2 opening weekend prediction: $28.6 million (Friday to Sunday), $38.3 million (Wednesday to Sunday)

For my Penguins of Madagascar prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/11/22/penguins-of-madagascar-box-office-prediction/

This Day in Movie History: February 9

13 years ago Today in Movie History – February 9 – the eagerly awaited sequel Hannibal debuted in theaters. It was the follow-up to 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs, which was an instant classic and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress. Silence director Jonathan Demme and costar Jodie Foster chose not to return and it was Ridley Scott who stepped in behind the camera with Julianne Moore assuming the role of Clarice Starling. Anthony Hopkins would return to the title role and that was enough for the picture to open with $58 million – which at the time was the third largest debut of all time. Its domestic run topped out at $165 million. While crowds turned out, they didn’t necessarily love what they saw. Both audiences and critical reaction was mixed and trended toward negative as it currently stands at 39% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, if you want to see Ray Liotta with half his head removed and a truly bizarre performance from Gary Oldman, this is your movie. Hopkins would return to the signature role one more time less than two years later in Red Dragon.

As for birthdays, Charlie Day is 38 today. He’s best known for his work on TV’s cult hit “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” but broke into movies in a big way with 2011’s Horrible Bosses. A sequel to that is on the way this year. Last year, Day costarred in Pacific Rim and his voice can be heard in this weekend’s blockbuster The Lego Movie.

Tom Hiddleston is 33 today. He’s garnered rave reviews for his villainous turn as Loki in both Thor flicks and The Avengers. Other notables pictures include War Horse and The Deep Blue Sea and Hiddleston will soon appear in Muppets Most Wanted.

As for Six Degrees of Separation between the two actors:

Charlie Day was in Horrible Bosses with Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey was in A Time To Kill with Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson was in The Avengers with Tom Hiddleston

And that’s today – February 9 – in Movie History!

Pacific Rim Movie Review

Pacific Rim is visionary director Guillermo del Toro’s love letter to giant monster movies of old but updated with 21st century effects that the makers of Godzilla in 1954 couldn’t even fathom. Here moviegoers are introduced to the terms “Kaiju” and “Jaegers” (not the shot you’ll surely regret the next morning). You see, Kaijus (strange creature in Japanese) are giant alien monsters that attack Earth from below ocean level. Jaegers are giant frickin robots that are commanded by two human pilots inside the machine. The pilots, in order to combat the strength of the Kaijus, do some sort of mind meld trick together where they can read each other’s thoughts and memories in order to create a stronger connection. Or something like that.

The heroes of the pic have a little history with those nasty Kaijus. Pilot Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) lost his copilot and brother (played by Mike from TV’s “Homeland”) when they battled one and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) lost her whole family in an attack when she was a child. It is Raleigh and Mako who must become copilots in order to thwart Kaiju mayhem in Hong Kong. Their commanding officer is played by Idris Elba in the picture’s strongest performance.

There’s some colorful supporting characters in the mix. Charlie Day of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and Horrible Bosses is a quirky research scientist tasked with finding new ways to defeat the monsters. Ron Perlman (who’s collaborated with del Toro on the Hellboy flicks) deals black market Kaiju organs for profit. And there’s a run-of-the-mill subplot about another Jaeger (Robert Kazinsky) who doesn’t trust Raleigh and yadda yadda yadda.

Let’s be clear: when hearing that del Toro was making a giant monster movie, you figured this would be a visual treat. And there are certainly many moments where that’s exactly what we get. Apparently the director decided that whenever a Kaiju does attack, the weather forecast must call for precipitation. Seriously. I don’t think there’s one action scene that doesn’t feature a torrential downpour. These action spectacles feature cool moments like a Jaeger literally hitting a Kaiju with an enormous ship. Both Jaegers and Kaijus are so massive that they pretty much take a building down with each movement they make. While the fight scenes can have a sameness feel to them (with the nighttime rainstorm theme running constantly), there are certainly plenty of moments of visual awe. This is the level where Pacific Rim occasionally works well. If del Toro was attempting to get you emotionally invested in the characters (and it seems like he often is), it doesn’t quite succeed. The lead characters of Raleigh and Mako are rather blandly written. Day and Perlman have fun with their characters, but the roles aren’t particularly memorable.

Pacific Rim is about spectacle and a filmmaker paying homage to the films he loved as a child. It’s worth mentioning that the movies del Toro is celebrating usually were about 90 minutes long and not the bloated 132 minute run time here. We’ve seen del Toro create imaginary worlds of eye popping splendor before in Pan’s Labyrinth and the Hellboy pics. They were more satisfying and original experiences than what we have here. There is, however, just enough cool effects here to warrant a recommendation – albeit a regretfully muted one.

*** (out of four)